Posts Tagged civil rights movement

Kochiyama’s long life of intersectional social justice activism began when her family was interned during World War II. After the war, she and husband became involved in the civil rights movement while living among Black and Puerto Rican neighbors in New York City. She befriended Malcolm X and was famously by his side when he was killed. FBI files described Kochiyama as a “ring leader” of Black nationalists and a “Red Chinese agent,” so she was clearly doing something right. In the ’80s, she helped win reparations and an official apology for Japanese-American internees.

Tomorrow marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. As Katie noted yesterday, there are quite a few details that are omitted in the retelling of this landmark, cultural, social, political shift of an event to our generation and younger. A significant omission is the erasure of Daisy Bates, the only female organizer who spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. As head of the NAACP in Arkansas, Bates led the effort to desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks. On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to a a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would help spark the civil rights movement. Today, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Rosa Parks stamp in her honor.

Check out this great Democracy Nowspecial on Parks. Transcript after the jump.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks. On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to a ...